Impact of caesarean births on mother and baby

I've not had the time to come on here recently but see that this thread is already becoming heated - something I thought could be avoided.

My reason for posting the article that has scientific backing and is therefore not scaremongering OR unfounded was purely for those mothers that have had a caesarean suggested to them and not been told of the possible risks involved.

In my experience horror stories regarding natural birth are bandied about far more often than any potential risks of a surgical birth. For those women that are 'on the fence' it is useful to know that facts before they make their choices. And NO not ALL gynaes will inform you of risks.

Cathm, happy for you that you had such a wonderful experience, I know of moms that say the same for their own caesars and I couldn't be happier for them! I just find it strange that so many get defensive about their choices if they are so happy with them.

With regards to natural birth mother and feeling jealous of caesars moms? what an utterly bizarre comment to make?
Again, they made their choice and whether it was a beautiful, calm, painful or traumatic birth - it was their experience and their choice.

(I like Hasie also had a pain free labour that took 1 hour 48 minutes, no stitches, no medication, no scar, no recovery period.. So no, not jealous of your experience - I had my own)

Cathm, glad you had such a great experience! Just to put things into perspective, my birth was:

- About 5 hours from first contraction to baby born, most of this time was spent sleeping...
- Painless
- I was walking right through the process any time I wanted to.
- I was walking immediately after the birth, carrying my own baby to the scale etc.
- Got home the next day and went on with normal life, driving, cooking, looking after baby and toddler etc.
- I have NO scar, no scar tissue
- Vajayjay completely intact
- No recovery period

Its possible, and I had an awesome experience. Something I wouldn't trade for anything in this world.

I was on an endorphin high for about 4 days, had NO baby blues, no 3dr day problems, no breastfeeding problems.

Thanks so much cathm and you are not the first, I certainly do!! Not at all against natural birth, but I am against people making C-sections out to be the worst thing ever!!! And NOT ALL GYNIES bully you into ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so glad I didn't read this scaremongering (much of it ignorant and unfounded as usual) before I had my elective c-section!

My experience was AMAZING and my son (now 9 months old) is an absolute ANGEL! We LOVE him and are loving the whole parenting experience and having him in our lives. On the plus side he has not been sick ONCE (oh, I also only breastfed for 6 weeks LOL how does one explain that! ) in 9 months - not ONCE - and has been sleeping through the entire night since before 3 months. He is a happy and joyful baby.

Oh, back the process of birth (who cares if the outcome is so magnificent?!?!) my experience was;

- quick - 30 mins in all
- painless
- was walking the next day and also carrying my son on day 3 - could've done it on day but waited
-got home and walked up 3 flights of stairs with baby no problem
- tiny scar
- vajajay (yay!) completely intact

a blissful experience! My scar is about 4 cm long and paperthin.

I sometimes wonder if natural birth mothers are not just jealous and that's why they go on so about c-sections. I will do a c-section again for sure!

Hope someone found this helpful!

Cathm

Kirst's words:"True, if someone wants to "elect" to have major surgery and be sliced open through how many layers of tissue, it's their body (and their child's) and their choice.

What I want to know is, why does my medical aid refuse to pay for the "elective" boob job that I'm considering having? "

Kirst, that comment is just pathetic!! I do not have any idea how you can compare birth to having breast surgery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with you Kirst, if it wasn't for so many people being "bullied" into a unnecessary C-sec then we would have more trust in our gynies. C-sections are live saving procedures and I wouldn't recommend anyone to go against their instinct when it comes to saving your baby's life.

Julz, you make a good point, I also think this topic gets on my nerves because of people trying to defend a choice they made by going against research outcomes.

I think the most important thing about the debate is that most natural birth moms have not experienced it as it could be when done with a doula, midwife and proper preparations. I know the interventions that happens during a "normal" natural birth makes it more dangerous for mother and baby. Once again, these should be life saving procedures, not general practice. Things like the wrong birthing position, episiotomy, induction, epidural, assisted delivery, all have a negative impact on the safety of the baby and mother when done as routine and not as life saving intervention.

Interventions and unnecessary c-sections are like doing CPR on a person who doesn't need it, and then instead of being a life saving procedure, it becomes a dangerous game. It has been proven time and again that something that is life saving for a specific person with a problem, is usually not beneficial and often bad for a healthy individual.

2kidmamma I am very sad and sorry for your friend and what she went through, and for the fact that the pressure she perceived from others over-rode her judgment about what was best for her and her child. But I still think that if we lived in a country where c-secs are not the norm, and are only performed in emergencies or electively where medically indicated, she may have more easily been able to judge the emergency and which way to go.

Sure we need to educate ourselves, but we still need the guidance of a care giver who we can trust, otherwise we’d all just birth our babies ourselves. MissesMom the problem with gynaes is that we only know if we can fully trust them right until the end of our pregnancies. I’ve heard and read so many times how moms are doing fine, and their gynaes have agreed to support them in their choice of natural, and then in the last few weeks their gynaes start making noises about baba being too big or some other nonsense and, well, maybe we better consider c-sec. And I’ve read how so many of these moms second guess whether their c-sec was really necessary. This is why I think c-secs need to be so much more regulated than they are now.

(luckily this wasn’t my experience with my gynae and he supported me in my choice right until the end)